Confessions of a bargain hunter

There's no denying it, I love a good bargain, doesn't everyone? The boxing day sales are my favourite, although I've learnt that if you hold of even further to mid January, many companies will actually reduce their sale items even further, boots is a good example of this.

I've been a bargain hunter from a young age, most likely inspired by my parents and getting dragged round various carboots and auctions at the weekends, I enjoyed it though, I come from a family of bargain hunters and here's a few key confessions of mine that I am sure many other bargain hunters also share.

Poundland is our favourite shop
This of course, is unlikely to be a surprise. Obviously if we love a bargain, we're going to love Poundland right? Our natural instinct is to head to poundland but the reality is that we may be actually able to get the same item elsewhere, savers for example, which brings me on to my second point.

If it's cheap enough, we will by it
We constantly unnecessarily by things we don't need simply because it's cheap. We don't need it, we aren't even sure if we actually want it but if it's less than a pound then why not, it must be a bargain.

We could open a shop with the amount of things we have
My garage is full of stuff, stuff from when I was a kid, my dads antiques, stuff I'd forgotten I ever even had. You couldn't fit a car in there. I've actually started selling some of these things through various apps, think it's about time I had a clear out.

We'll probably buy your birthday present in January
Yep. It's true, I've actually done this before. Not because I get really excited about birthdays but simply because there is a lot more savings to be had in mid-January than there is in September, it's just a fact, common sense.

 

We will annoy you
We'll find bargains and you wont understand how we keep managing to do it. It's like we have a specialist set of skills, maybe we're just ninjas.

So that's some of my confessions of being a bargain hunter although I'm sure there are many more, if you're a bargain hunter let me know in the comments one of your confessions (or tips) on bargain hunting.

J x

3 things my Grandad taught me

Hey Guys! 

This in many ways is a very personal post, my Grandad passed away a few years ago now and although I didn't see him as often as I would have liked to due to him living in Devon, I still considered myself to be very close to him and he taught me some very important things.

1) She who worries most, worries before it is necessary

I've always been a worrier and anyone that's close to me will know that I remember telling my grandad one time that I was worried about my upcoming GCSE exams, that was the quote he said to me. Unfortunately he didn't see the results of those exams but I do know that if he had, he would of been proud of me for doing well in them. 

2) Be true to yourself 

Throughout his life I can say that my grandad remained true to himself. If he didn't like someone, chances were they knew about it. I admired him for that, he never pretended to be anyone that he wasn't and he never tried to please anyone else. 

3) Get some fun out of every day

I admit, as my grandad aged and became weaker this did get more difficult . However he always made an effort to leave the house as he seemed to always be happier when he saw me smiling, whether that was a trip to the local newsagents or a day trip to the beach, he was always there for me and always made a real effort to make me happy. 

X~Jess~X 

Certainly Wood, Yule Log Review*

Traditionally the Yule Log was welcomed into the house on Christmas Eve. After this, a Christmas blessing was set over it and it was sprinkled with wine before being set alight. After this, it was burnt over the 12 days of Christmas with the remains being used as kindling for the following year.

Certainly wood, based in Herefordshire has revived this old Christmas tradition in the shape of a yule log. Each of the Oak Yule Logs is beautifully gift wrapped and as you can see below is very well packaged and is priced at £25, making it a lovely unique gift for someone. The box also contains a box of handmade ‘flamers’ which are certainly wood’s natural firelighters, along with kiln dried kindling which makes lighting the fire a lot more simple and straightforward.

 

A Yule Blessing

Come, Bring, with a noise,
My merry, merry boys
The Christmas log to the firing;
While my good dame she
Bids ye all be free,
And drink to your hearts desiring,
With the last years brand,
Light the new block, and
for good success in his spending.
On your psalteries play,
That sweet luck may
Come while the log is a-teending

www.certainlywood.co.uk

x~Jess~x

*A Winter Evening with Olpro

Hey Guys!

I recently had the opportunity to review a café mug from the new Olpro, tableware collection. I loved the design of the mug and the fact that it was also environmentally-friendly gave it an additional bonus.

Olpro is a leading UK camping and outdoor equipment manufacturer. The new innovative tableware is created from discarded rice following the rice harvest. This therefore makes them extremely environmentally friendly and also bio-degradable.

One of the best things about the mug and the tableware collection is its great value for a unique product. They can be used in the microwave, are lightweight and also hardwearing.  

 

My only negative that I can say for this product is the handle is quite small, which could make it difficult to hold and carry.

The mug can come in a range of different colours, adding a personal touch and the collection is now available to buy at www.olpro.co.uk these are great for winter and when using I found that it kept my hot chocolate warm for longer, making it good to use when sitting at a desk working.

x~Jess~x

Treaclemoon #BeYou project

Hey Guys!

In collaboration with treaclemoon I want to talk about their #BeYou project and also the products that they have to offer. 

"We like to act differently to other brands...have faith in our story, be brave and most of all we place out customers at the centre of every thought" - Charles Henry Nelson

The product I chose to review was the marshmallow hearts bath and shower lotion. This is a very sweet smelling lotion and is definitely unique and the sweet smell is something that appealed to me. I have tried other treaclemoon flavours before but this would definitely be one of my favourites.

The main focus of this post however is to talk about their #BeYou project. Working with BulliesOut they aim to make every individual realise their potential and self worth.

In today's society we are so interconnected and whilst this makes it great for communication one of the major drawbacks of being so connected is that it is so easy, almost unavoidable to compare ourselves against others. We may be bullied in all types of situations whether this is at school, in the workplace and more commonly than ever this is happening online. 

If you're directly affected by bullying and need someone to talk to you can email a mentor at BulliesOut at mentorsonline@bulliesout.com

x~Jess~x

Anxiety

Anxiety is something that has been a big part of my life and I feel that despite the vast amount of awareness there is on anxiety it can still be really difficult for those that don't live with it to understand what it's like. 

Recently my anxiety has got worse, a few years ago was probably when I could say I was at my lowest. I would have panic attacks before going to school and sometimes wouldn't be able to get out the car. I tried drinking water, breathing exercises and other things that people say help in these situations and just nothing seemed to work. 

Eventually I learnt to control this feeling, I'd still get nervous and a little panicky but I was able to force myself out the car. I think a lot of this helped by changing some of the friends that I had at the time. 

It's not always obvious whether or not a person has anxiety, gradually you can adopt methods of almost hiding it, I still don't like telling people that I have anxiety and very rarely talk about it. If I start to feel anxious and someone asks what's wrong it's hard for me to say that I'm anxious so I'll cover it up by saying I just don't feel well. It usually works.

I try not to let my anxiety stop me doing things and whilst I still manage to go out when I can if I am feeling anxious it's not always the best of times. I'm ambitious, I want to go and travel the world and I don't want anxiety to hold me back but I have to accept that at some point, it probably will to an extent. 

It's physically exhausting, I'm really surprised how tired anxiety can actually make you. I'll go from feeling on top of the world to having no motivation to do anything and there's no way I can even explain how or why that happens. 

I try not to let anxiety define me, it's a difficult thing to talk about. I know that if all my friends knew I had anxiety they'd be asking if I was ok whenever something was a little abnormal or we did something a little different, I don't want that. I don't want my friends to feel as though they have to be worried about how I'll react in certain situations or that I need looking after. I just want to be able to be like the rest of them, I'm sure anyone with anxiety will understand that. 

If you know someone with anxiety I think the best thing to do is be there for them as it can be a very lonely experience. If you know they're panicking don't push them into telling you what's wrong, they will in their own time. Letting you know that you're there for them is probably one of the most simplist and meaningful things you can do. 

x~Jess~x

Anatomicals review*

Hey Guys!

So I was recently sent some products to feature on my blog by Anatomicals. These are a unique and bright range of skincare and makeup products and I'm going to share how I found them!

The packaging is very bright and upbeat which really appealed to me and made the products stand out. I love trying new face masks and these were fantastic. The tropical one in particular had quite a strong scent but on both my face felt very hydrated and clean after using them so I can say they were very effective. 

I found the lip balm packaging very unique and amusing. It was definitely different to any other I'd seen before and whilst it is slightly weird it is very cleverly incorporated. 

There was also a headache balm included in the set which we decided to test on mum as she had a headache at the time, she said there was a very strong burning sensation that she felt and it had a very strong scent, nevertheless, her headache did disappear. 

There was also a dry balm included which I decided to test on my elbows as I suffer with dry skin particularly there. The product was effective for me as my skin definitely felt a lot smoother however some body butters may work just as well.

http://www.anatomicals.com.mt/

Thank you for reading! 

x~Jess~x